Bali police to start checking foreign tourist levy vouchers at holiday hotspots

Bali’s tourism police have unveiled plans to begin approaching foreigners at holiday hotspots in an effort to drive up the number of visitors shelling out for a new tourism tax.

The Indonesian island, long one of Australia’s favourite travel destinations, introduced a new Foreign Tourist Levy on Valentines Day this year, with funds raised aimed to protect their culture and environment, build infrastructure and improve safety.

Over the past month, anyone visiting Bali has been expected to cough up 150,000 IDR, about $15 AUD, but so far only 40 per cent have made the payment, according to the Bali Provincial Tourism Office.

Pre-pandemic, Bali saw more than 16 million international visitors in 2019, meaning the province could add about $240 million dollars more to it’s tourism revenue annually.

To boost compliance, Tourism Office head Tjok Bagus Pemayun announced this week tourism police and other authorities will begin inspecting visitors at top holiday destinations.

“Since the PWA was implemented, an average of 5,000 foreign tourists paid per day,” he said.

“So we carry out monitoring, namely monitoring and evaluation of foreign tourist levy at tourism destination.”

Mr Pemayun said tourism authorities will begin targeting destinations like Uluwatu, Tanah Lot, Ulun Danu Beratan and Tampaksiring, twice a week from Monday before expanding the inspection areas.

Announcing the policy in September last year, Bali’s governor Wayan Koster said travel to Bali had grown after Covid-19 restrictions eased, and he hoped the fee would “trigger a revival of the tourism industry”.

Inspectors will be checking visitors for a QR code obtained after the levy is paid at the airport or via the Love Bali website or app.

No fines have been announced for a failure to pay, but authorities will require visitors without the QR code to pay on the spot.

The tourist tax is paid on top of the existing $50 visa fee.